US fraud protection firm Signifyd to hire 150 at new Belfast R&D centre

Fraud protection company Signifyd will expand into Belfast and create 150 jobs at a new R&D centre.

Silicon Valley import Signifyd, a company that specialises in guaranteed fraud protection, is set to expand its European presence with the opening of a new global research and development (R&D) centre in Belfast.

The move, which the firm hopes will put it in an ideal position to serve its global markets and tackle a variety of fraud challenges, will create a total of 150 new roles in Northern Ireland.

Signifyd will hire for roles in software engineering, data, risk and fraud analytics over the next three to five years. The positions will generate almost £5m in annual salaries for the local economy.

“As we studied different locations to expand our engineering footprint, Belfast stood out for its talent pool and its proximity to better service our European customers,” said Signifyd co-founder and CEO, Raj Ramanand. “We are based right here in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter and look forward to building a world-class team to lead our innovation and help our customers provide the kind of shopping experiences today’s consumers expect.”

Trevor McCullough, director of engineering at the new R&D centre, added: “We’ll be rapidly building a team from the ground up, which in the end will make the business lives of thousands of customers better. The chance to be a part of a team like that doesn’t come along all that often … This is the kind of opportunity that those passionate about technology live for.”

Using tools such as big data, machine learning and expert manual review, Signifyd promises its clients a 100pc financial guarantee against fraud on approved orders.

To support its hiring aims, Invest NI has offered the company close to £1m in financing. Alastair Hamilton, CEO of Invest Northern Ireland, praised the development and said the addition of Signifyd to the payments technology landscape in Northern Ireland was “very welcome”.